They all expected a rousing good time, the exciting spectacle of a victory against disorganized rebels. When McDowell and his army took the field in July 1861, many local big-shots followed in carriages, along with wives, girls friends, and gourmet picnic baskets. Washington socialites and politicians gleefully joined the excitement. "You are green, it is true, but they are green also," President Abe Lincoln assured him before the battle. McDowell personally felt his own quickly-assembled army not ready yet for a major fight, but political pressure for a quick Union victory pushed him into the field. The war had barely just started, being just three months since South Carolinians had shelled Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Beauregard (McDowell's West Point classmate) and Joe Johnston. The battle of First Manassas (I'll stick with the Virginia name) was the first large engagement of the Civil War, some 30,000 Union troops under recently-promoted Brigadier General Irvin McDowell facing some 30,000 Confederates under P.G.T. Really? A celebration of a disorganized retreat? For the sake of a bicycle ride? At $20 per ticket? We will commemorate this historic retreat along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail with a running, walking and biking event along the paved W&OD Trail." "The Great Skedaddle is a term used to describe the disorganized retreat of Union troops back to Washington after their unexpected defeat at the first Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. Scheduled for September 3, here's how they describe it on their web site: And this past weekend, the 150th anniversary of the first great Civil War battle - what Virginians call Manassas (for the town) and people up north call Bull Run (for the stream) - saw some of the best.īut even I had a swallow hard at seeing the strangest proposed event so far, what sponsors are calling The Great Skedaddle. We stage hundreds each year, especially here in Virginia, so rich in sites. The American Civil War is re-enactment heaven. Stonewall Jackson and his Virginians turning the tideįirst Manassa, (Bull Run), July 21, 1861. Then you'd know that true peace had really come to the Middle East. A few thousand guys - fellow history fanatics - camping out on a summer weekend, with horses, explosions, cool uniforms and antique gear, marching and charging, noise, gunpowder, celebrating the minutiae and deeper meanings of iconic events - all the good things about a war, and nobody gets hurt (except the occasional horse bite, twisted ankle, bad food reaction, or heat stress).Ĭan you imagine a better sign that two once-enemy peoples have buried the hatchet than being able to re-enact an old battle for the sheer fascination with history, legacy, and friendships? Imagine a world, for instance, where some day Israelis and Egyptians might stage annual re-eactments of the Suez Canal crossings of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (Imagine the great gear for that!), then trade memorabilia and drink beers together over a campfire. Re-enacters at Manassas, Virginia, for the 150 anniversary this past weekend.
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